Dealing with eye problems for nearly 4 months...rubbing eyes makes them worse?

Hi everyone, I previously posted a thread about our cat Finley, who has experienced various eye problems since we first got him as a kitten. After up and down eye problems over 2 years, we decided to do a panel test, and we found out he has mycoplasma felis. We had been treating him for herpes, but he tested negative for herpes. After taking him to a specialist, who confirmed that he had an ulcer but that his eyes were otherwise in good health, we started him on a round of doxycycline and collyrium eye drops. These helped quite a bit, and within 2 weeks he was looking better. His ulcer went away very quickly. Unfortunately, there was a miscommunication and we finished the medication without taking him for a check-up at the vet...he went for about 3 days without medication, and during that time he developed very swollen, red eyelids.

We took him back to the vet, who suggested that he might have herpes, and the test might have been a false negative, which is quite common. The vet suggested we keep him on the doxycycline and collyrium, but we also added an anti-viral, famciclovir. When we first started him on the famciclovir, the difference was exciting: his eyes started doing so much better. Since then it's been up and down. On Sunday, after reading through this forum, we started him on (bovine) Lactoferrin, 125 mg in the morning and at night mixed into his food. This also seemed to help a lot, but somehow we just can't kick this flare-up! Fortunately he also had bloodwork done, and it was very good, all his red and white blood cell counts were in very normal range. So that was a relief.

The reason I'm asking for advice is because his eyes seem to be especially worst when he rubs them. We've had him in a cone since October (poor thing), because ever since those 3 days when we took him off his medication and his eyes got worse, rubbing them seems to cause a lot of swelling and redness.

**To clarify: before, the swelling didn't really seem related to anything. Now, when he cleans his eyes, the eyelids flare up and they become very red and irritated. There have been times when he's managed to get his cone off, and when he does, we've come home to a kitty with very swollen, painful eyes. Once we get the cone on, the swelling goes down within a few hours. Since he's been in the cone for so long, he's also found ways of grooming his eyes, even with the cone on.  

Has anyone had experience with a cat whose eye symptoms are made worst when they groom? He HAS had some improvement with the anti-viral and the Lactoferrin, but really swells up when he manages to groom. His eyelids also get swollen when we wipe them with a tissue or warm cloth. Any ideas would be appreciated. 

Here is a photo of him when we got home from work and realized he had taken his cone off. This was taken right after we got it back on:


This was taken just about 24 hours after the first photo, you can see the big difference:

Oh he is so cute!!  Poor guy having to be in the cone of shame for so long.  There are some soft cones that you might want to look at that might be more comfortable for him.

Can you ask the vet for an eye lubricant?  I had a cat almost rub her eye raw because she had allergies!  (Go figure!)  Also, you might want to have him re-tested to see if the bacteria is still high or what the levels are.  Seems like he's still struggling with it. 

HI - I received your PM message and thought I would just reply here instead of both places. Perla's eyes have never been quite that red and inflamed! And, I am thinking allergies more so than Herpes at this point. YES - Herpes tests DO often come back as false negative, especially if the cat is not active at the time of the UR panel test. Perla was confirmed Mycoplasmosis and Clamydia and negative for herpes BUT that does not rule it out... she was put on one month long of the Doxy and since then tested negative and was cleared of the Myco/Clam. She will forever, though, have the weepy left eye and actually, now we are dealing with right eye issues starting this year with the eyelids becoming a bit red. NOT as red and swollen as your Finley's though. Poor little guy AND poor momma.

You mention about the ear in the PM as well. The one ear. Perla's skin issues were related to chin acne and "stud" tail, believe it or not. Her ears did get red at one point, I do remember, but that was when she was flaring with a major Herpes viral infection which caused her skin to become a bit inflamed around her ears and eyes. The anti-histamine injection worked wonders for this along with the Cidofovil eye drops.

She did react very, very badly to Erthromycin eye ointment and rubbed her eyelids red so we stopped that. We did try - specialist recommendation - the Erthro again this year one time and same problem. So we can no use that in her eyes. It could be the Collyrium eye drops/wash that could be causing some irritation to Finley- as you mentioned this might be a concern. It is best to run these worries past the vet and try something different then. :nod: We (the Specialist and my reports back to her) had to try multiple different medications, oral and herpetic drops, to come up with the best plan of attack during her flares. I know we will be dealing with this for the rest of her life so I find what works for Perla and go with it.

Her right eye problem is new as I mentioned above. The lids do get red and she runs a brownish discharge due to inflamed conjunctiva. SO - we tried OFLOXACIN drops for her right eye. Here is a quick link I just pulled up http://www.vetrxdirect.com/product/view/ofloxacin-eye-drops-vet-use Ask your vet if this antibiotic would work for Finley. Not sure, of course, but wanted to mention what cleared up Perla's right eye quickly. I have the drops on hand now and use them if the right eye gets red. For her left eye - I have to use NEO/POLY/DEX drops periodically if she begins to flare but can also use the Ofloxacin instead of the Neo/Poly/Dex with great results as well.

I wash Perla's eye gently with Vetericyn Eye gel http://www.revivalanimal.com/Vetericyn-Ophthalmic-Gel.html (another quick link I pulled up). It is very gentle and safe to use but of course, ALWAYS go through your vet and ask first before using any online supplements or medications. ESPECIALLY with the eye - you want to be very, very safe and always ask your vet first. :nod:

These are just some things that work for Perla BUT honestly, I am thinking your kitty may also have some allergy issues as well. The one month long dosing of Doxy should have cured the Mycoplasma infection for Finley.

Also - with that one ear being a bit raw - it is possible that the cone is rubbing and resting more so on that one side of his head. Also - IF he consistently uses one paw, the same paw, to pull on the cone and try to groom, then the cone will tilt and put more pressure on that same ear over and over again. Does that make sense? Just my logic on the possibility of the cone rubbing only that one ear. Hope some of this helps and sending heaps of vibes for Finley to recover quickly. :cross:

Hi everyone, thank you so much for the feedback...my husband and I actually brought up all your suggestions with our vet, and I think we have a pretty good "plan of attack." As soon as I brought up the possibility of the collyrium irritating his eyes, the vet suggested that this could definitely be the case. Since we started these drops i haven't been too keen on them. They "pool" at the sides of his mouth and have caused sores and redness on the sides of his mouth, which have made him more uncomfortable than he already is. We've used quite a few eye drops on him throughout the years, but we've never seen a skin reaction like this. It's also next to impossible to find information about them online. So, we're stopping those drops. I also asked if we could give him an antihistamine shot just to be safe, and the vet recommended that we give him some Benedryl until we have him checked again this Saturday.

We'll be using medication on his ears to get the rawness down. The vet was quite concerned because he's starting to have white, thick goopies coming out of his eyes, and the inner eyelids were quite red. Because of this she prescribed steroidal eyedrops, twice a day, until Saturday. She's been checking in to make sure it doesn't cause a herpes flare-up (IF he has herpes) but so far that hasn't been the case.

After we got home from the vet last night, we gave Finley his dinner and then we went to buy Benedryl for him. When we got back, he was actually waiting at the door for us, meowing and purring...something he ALWAYS used to do but hasn't done for quite a while now. We thought he was just sad because of the cone, but now I'm wondering if it was something else. Also, ever since he was a small kitten, he's always woken us up by meowing at 4:30 am. He hasn't done that in months, and this morning, he did!!! I never thought I'd be so excited to be woken up at 4:30 am by his meowing. We bought him a water fountain a few weeks ago, and today, for the first time, he actually drank from it (before he'd just been using his old water bowl). I really do feel like all these positive changes can't just be a coincidence.

This morning his eyes were quite watery, but since we wiped them they haven't had any more discharge, so that's really good. The redness has decreased quite a bit. The left eye is a bit swollen, but it's more of the white swelling of his upper eyelid, the kind of flare-ups he's had on and off since he was a kitten. It's not the terrible red swelling and irritation you can see in the photo I posted. 

I'm hoping and praying that we've correctly figured out what was going on, and that Finley is FINALLY on the road to recovery. It seems like we start something new, and it works for a couple of days, and that the red swelling comes back. I'm wondering now if it's because, even if the anti-viral and such were working, the drops were really irritating his eyes. I'll post later tonight and tomorrow with some updates.

Thank you to everyone for your suggestions, we brought them all to our vet, who has been SO compassionate and willing to listen to our research and others' ideas. Please send Finley lots of positive vibes.  

Oh, just to clarify: we DID give him an antihistamine shot last night, which is what I'm hoping has made the big difference. We're now doing Benedryl daily until Saturday.

And thank you for the suggestions about the soft cones!! We bought a few options and we're excited to try them out tonight, I'm hoping they'll provide him some more comfort.  

I am SO glad to hear that Finley is doing some of the things he used to do and that speaks volumes on how he is feeling. I really hope that this trend continues and that he IS on the road to recovery. Your doing a wonderful job caring for him and all of that love has to be helping too. :heart3: :cross:

Hi everyone, I'm not sure if it's against the rules to revive this thread...but we desperately need positive vibes for Finley. Since I last posted he has deteriorated considerably. The eyes themselves are still fine, it's the eyelids that are red and puffy. He was doing better for a while on Famciclovir for a month, but once we stopped it, he became worst. We've been giving Benadryl (vet advised and prescribed|) and he has had another anti-histamine shot. He has started vomiting and is quite listless, although in the evenings he still has bouts of energy. He is still a sweet and affectionate boy. He will suddenly get bursts of energy and meow for food and eat and eat and eat, then during the day won't touch his food at all. He has also been quite constipated.

Over the past few days he started sneezing and the swelling started to extend to his whiskers and nose. Below his chin he has terrible scabs. His ears also became red inside again, which we thought we had cleared up with a week of treatment but has come back again. The last two days he has started to have a pink rash on his tummy and around his penis. We brought him to the emergency clinic and vet multiple times, they were at a loss. Tonight we have decided to hospitalize him. The hospital has a dermatologist who our vet has been in contact with tonight, and will be seeing him tomorrow. 

We thought perhaps we might have mold in our apartment, due to a history of flooding I won't get into, so we asked our landlord to provide temporary housing for tonight while they check for mold. We thought maybe that was causing allergies. To say we are distraught is an understatement. I've barely eaten or slept in days, and my husband and I are completely overwhelmed with worry. I have never seen him like this before, he's been sick in the past, but he seems very depressed. 

I'm not really looking for advice, just positive vibes and a place to vent.

I'm so sorry!  I'm guessing you've already contacted the vet.  Did they have any idea what might be going on?

OH MY - I am sorry to hear this news about Finley being in the hospital and being so unwell. Mega, mega MEGA VIBES for your kitty. I do understand the worry, anxiety and distress it causes us when they are sick and the vets can't seem to find the reason. Let us know how he is doing. :cross: :cross: